Journey to the Past
by Ellie Martineau
Summary: Another cheesy, typical time-travel story. Amy's train takes her back in time, where she begins work for Medda and meets Jack Kelly...
1. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: 12-21-2003  
  
I realize this is neither the most brilliant nor the most artistic piece of writing anyone's ever seen. The vast majority of the stories I am posting here on fanfiction.net are many, many years old. I wrote a TON of Newsies (among others) fanfiction during my high school years. While my writing is still not anything to brag about it is slightly more polished now than it used to be. Obviously any "Pirates of the Caribbean" based stories will be extremely recent-but they are currently so recent that I haven't even written them yet. *taps head* They're up here.  
  
When you read this story please keep in mind that I am aware it's totally craptastic. It's a gem though and makes me chuckle. I hope to make someone else chuckle too! Hehe.  
  
Of course, constructive criticism is completely welcome and wanted but chances are, I may have already refined the issue at hand. Then again I may not have. Let me know!  
  
That said, read on and enjoy as I have always enjoyed a bad story.but please do not expect a great work of art. ;)  
  
-Manslayah 


	2. Strange Train Rides

**The present is my past; in your future my present awaits. **  
  
She picked up her bags and looked around her. Where on earth had this train taken her? She should have just flown like her father had asked her to. But no, she was too stuck on taking a train like she'd never get the chance again. This is what she gets! She took a look around her.  
  
This was not 21st Century New York City. This hardly looked like 21st Century New anything. The streets she had stepped foot on were not pavement but a mix of dirt and cobblestone. The buildings were old and tattered, most not too tall. The cobblestone streets were filled with hurrying people all dressed as if this was the turn of the 19th century.  
  
She was not one to be anything but calm so she took this all in as rationally as possible. She sat, deep in thought, about her next move. She looked straight ahead of her and saw a sign at a building that said "Now Hiring: Stage Performer."  
  
On a whim, she started walking towards the building. Taking the chance as this seemed to be what was in store for her and her desire to "start over" in New York, she walked up to the doors and entered the building. A beautiful red-headed woman walked by and stopped when she saw Amy standing in the doorway with her suitcases.  
  
"Vhat can I do for you, Miss?" The woman asked in a thick Swedish accent.  
  
"Uh.I was wondering about your need for a performer."  
  
"Vell, you have come to de right person." The woman took her into a lavishly decorated room. "I'm Medda, the owner of the place."  
  
"My name is Amethyst. Amy for short. I'm a little new to New York." Amy said as Medda nodded understandingly.  
  
"Do you sing? Dance?"  
  
"I do both. A little different than what you're probably familiar with but it could be a new, fresh sight on your stages if you're willing to try something new." Amy replied, hoping to catch her interest.  
  
"I thought so." Medda smiled at a confused Amy. "I could tell there was something different, something new about you the second I laid eyes on you."  
  
Amy nodded.  
  
"You're not from here, are you?" Medda asked, knowing what the answer would be.  
  
"No. Not any type of 'here' you're talking about."  
  
"What year, exactly, are you from?"  
  
"When I left on the train to New York, it was 3:00 on May 30, 2000. How- how'd you know.?"  
  
"Well, you said you were on a train. Trains can't fit in alleys, and I saw you step out of nowhere at the end of the alley looking pretty confused. I guess you could just say it was intuition." Medda chuckled.  
  
Amy smiled, nodding. "So do you think I could work here? I kind of need it since I can't use my money.being that it's dated a hundred years from now."  
  
"I would have hired you anyway." Medda answered, laughing. "You strike me as a natural."  
  
Amy giggled happily as she had found a job she was sure to love. "Thank you Medda, thank you so much!"  
  
"Anything for you." Medda answered.  
  
"Can this be our little secret? For now?" Amy asked.  
  
"Of course, dear. Let's go find you a place to stay." 


	3. First Performance

Amy stepped out on stage, looking at the crowd. She began to wonder if distinction was what she really wanted. She felt extremely out of place in what she was wearing. She and Medda had decided that, since her acts were going to be different and part of who and when she was, she should dress as herself, too. Tonight she was wearing a black knee-length skirt with a slit up the right leg and a pink, keyhole, "peasant top" with short sleeves, from American Eagle, and black platform sandals.  
  
Medda walked out with her, prepared to introduce her to the freshly stunned crowd. She looked at the Newsies and smiled. She had made sure Jack Kelly had brought his group that night; she knew they would enjoy it. They seemed to be very much enjoying Amy's mere presence on the stage. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." Medda started, bringing the crowd out of their daze. "As you can see, we have a new performer. We call her 'Jewels,' as she is certainly a diamond in the rough, which you will soon see. Her show will be something new to all of you, so enjoy!"  
  
Medda hugged Amy and walked offstage, leaving her to her music.  
  
Amy sighed, hoping these people would accept her and her style. She had brought with her to New York a set of karaoke CD's that she had bought for the sake of performing, mainly just for self-entertainment; she didn't know they would serve such a purpose in her future. Medda had been taught the ropes of the CD player, and Amy smiled as a soft, mysterious melody floated throughout the building.  
  
"Heart don't fail me now / Courage don't desert me / Don't turn back now that we're here / People always say / Life is full of choices / No one ever mentions fear / Or how the world can seem so vast / On a journey to the past!  
  
...Somewhere down this road / I know someone's waiting / Years of dreams just can't be wrong / Arms will open wide / I'll be safe and wanted / Fin'lly home where I belong / Well starting now / I'm learning fast / On this journey to the past!  
  
...Home, love, family / There was once a time I must have had them, too / Home, love, family / I will never be complete until I find you / One step at a time / One hope, then another / Who knows where this road may go / Back to who I was / On to find my future / Things my heart still needs to know / Yes, let this be a sign! / Let this road be mine! / Let it lead me to my past / And bring me home / At last!"  
  
Amy opened her eyes to see a smiling, applauding crowd. She caught the eye of a certain newsie whom she had heard much about and instantly knew who he was. She smiled. He gave a shy, uncertain smile back.  
  
"Well, now that I'm warmed up and ready, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" She started. "The things you will hear and see from me are probably going to be new to you. I hope you like it!"  
  
Medda pushed the play button on the CD player and a upbeat, uptempo song arose throughout the room. "Crazy / Oh. / Baby, I'm so into you / You got that something, what can I do? / Baby, you spin me around / oh, the earth is movin', and I can't feel the ground..."  
  
Amy sang, laughing at her wide-eyed, captured crowd. She caught Jack Kelly's hazel eyes again and shot him a sexy sideways smile as she continued her song, dancing like a new and improved Britney Spears. "Every time you look at me / my heart is jumpin, it's easy to see / You drive me crazy / I just can't sleep / I'm so excited, I'm in too deep / oh, crazy, but it feels alright / baby thinking of you keeps me up all night!"  
  
** Jack Kelly stood amazed at this girl who stood on the stage in front of him.  
  
"Tell me / you're so into me / that I'm the only one you will see / Tell me / I'm not in the blue, oh / that I'm not wasting my feelings on you."  
  
He had never seen anyone like her before. She looked, acted, sang, and danced differently than anything he had ever seen-and he liked it. A lot. His heart jumped as she caught his eye again, smiling.  
  
"Every time I look at you / my heart is jumpin, what can I do? / You drive me crazy / I just can't sleep / I'm so excited / I'm in too deep, oh / crazy, but it feels alright / baby thinking of you keeps me up all night /"  
  
Jack ran his fingers through his thick, russet-brown hair and sighed. He had to meet this girl. He had to find out this mystery in front of him, dancing and singing like nothing anyone's ever seen before.  
  
**  
  
"Crazy.oohhh, crazy.ooooooooohhh.STOP!" Amy yelled, halting the movement of the entire crowd. She smiled and gave them her best "Look," then proceeding with the song. "Oh, oh, oh, ooh oh, oh, oh.yeah / you drive me crazy baby / I'm so excited / I'm in too deep / ohh, crazy, but it feels alright / baby thinking of you keeps me up all night / baby thinking of you keeps me up all night." She stood, her heart racing, as the song halted to an end.  
  
The shocked crowd stood there for a second, pondering this new sight. One started to clap; Amy looked to the noise and saw Jack Kelly. Instantly the rest of the crowd joined in, whistling, hooting, and yelling for more. Amy smiled at Medda and nodded.  
  
Another song, this time a slower one, rose up over the crowd. Selena. "Late at night when all the world is sleeping / I stay up and think of you / And I wish on a star / that somewhere you are thinking of me too / "  
  
She stared straight into Jack's beautiful eyes and sang at him. "Cuz I'm dreaming of you tonight / till tomorrow I'll holding you tight / And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be / than here in my room / dreaming about you and me / Wonder if you ever see me / and I wonder if you know I'm there / If you looked in my eyes / would you see what's inside / would you even care?" She found herself locked in the gaze of the mysterious Jack Kelly, who seemed equally unable to look away.  
  
She walked to the right side of the stage, near the balcony where he was and smiled, singing up at him. "I just want to hold you close / but so far all I have are dreams of you / so I wait for the day /I have the courage to say how much I love you / yes I do / I'll be dreaming of you tonight / till tomorrow I'll be holding you tight / and there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be / than here in my room / dreaming about you and me."  
  
She looked down. "Late at night when all the world is sleeping / I stay up and think of you / and I still can't believe / that you came up to me and said 'I love you.' / I love you too / Now I'm dreamin' with you tonight / till tomorrow / and for all of my life / And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be / than here in my room / dreamin of you endlessly."  
  
This time, before she even let go of the last note, the entire stadium arose in a standing ovation. Her show was over; what a success it had been! Amy retreated to her dressing room, a floor under her apartment. She sat down on the plush chair, resting her tired legs. She closed her eyes and drifted off. 


	4. Meeting Mr Kelly

Just as she was starting to dream, there was a knock at her door. "Yah," She said sleepily. "It's open." She closed her eyes, almost ready to go back to sleep, when she heard the voice speak to her.  
  
"Uh...I can come some udda time if ya' sleepin.'" a sweet, deep male voice said.  
  
Amy's eyes popped open. "No! I mean, that's okay. I was just a little tired, I shouldn't be sleeping anyway." She looked up and saw Jack Kelly standing in front of her.  
  
"I'm Jack Kelly, dey call me Cowboy." He took her hand. "It's nice to meet you."  
  
"I'm Amy." She said as he kissed her hand. "Nice to meet you too."  
  
"I jis' wanted'a come back heah and tell ya what a wundaful job ya did out deah taday. I'm glad Medda hired ya." He smiled shyly.  
  
"Thank you, Jack. It's so much fun doing it. I'm glad you liked it!" She flashed him her best smile and motioned for him to sit down.  
  
"So why do dey call ya 'Jewels'?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Well, my whole name is Amethyst Colleen Bushbaum, so she just started calling me "Jewels," after my first name." Amy stated.  
  
"And Medda tole' us dat you was a diamond in da rough, is dat paht of it too?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Amy shrugged.  
  
"So.uh, Medda tole' me dat you're not from'eah.where'ya from?"  
  
Amy lost her voice for a second. "Did she tell you anything?"  
  
"No, jis' dat wheah you're from is real different."  
  
"Okay. I'm from Minnesota, which I suppose is pretty different from here."  
  
Jack raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "I get da feelin' dat you're not tellin' me everyt'in." He said straightforwardly.  
  
"Uh.what else do you want to know?" Amy asked quietly.  
  
"Wheah else are you from?"  
  
Amy hesitated. "If I tell you, do you promise not to leak it to all your other newsy friends?"  
  
"Of course." Jack grinned broadly in victory.  
  
"I'm from the year 2000." "You 'spect me ta belie'dat? Really, I wanna know." He laughed.  
  
Amy grunted. "So I tell you what you wanted to know and now you don't believe me? I don't think that's fair."  
  
"Den prove ta me you're tellin' da truth." He challenged.  
  
Amy took the challenge without hesitation, reaching for her purse. She pulled out a twenty dollar bill and a Spring 2000 dELiA*s catalog, handing the items to Jack. He looked them over for a couple of minutes, showing no emotion whatsoever. Finally, he handed them back to Amy.  
  
"Okay, ya got me." He nodded in defeat as Amy grinned.  
  
"That's what I thought." At Jack's request, Amy spent the next three hours telling Jack about where she was from. Eventually, when the rest of the building was quiet, Jack looked at the clock on the wall.  
  
"It's gettin' pretty late, I's best be goin' now...Kloppman'll lock me out if I'm too late gettin' in." He laughed as he got up.  
  
"Yeah, I'm pretty beat." Amy replied, standing up to walk him out.  
  
"Hey.um, if ye' not doin' anyt'in tomorra, ya wanna meet us fer lunch at Tibby's?" Jack asked, locking her gaze.  
  
"Sure, as long as you promise to spend some time teaching me about your life." Amy giggled as Jack nodded.  
  
"Ya can even come wid me ta sell papes afta lunch if ya wanna." He grinned, a sparkle in his eye.  
  
Amy smiled. "I'd like that."  
  
At that, Amy walked Jack to the back exit and retreated to her apartment, a happy smile on her face. 


	5. Sleepless Nights

All night, Amy lay awake, her head full of unanswered questions. How did she end up here? Why? Would she ever get back to the year 2000? Her mind spun, unable to answer any of her own questions or to understand what was going on.  
  
At dawn, Amy still tossed and turned as the end of each string of questions brought a new one. She jumped at the sound of knocking on her door.  
  
"Honey?" It was Medda. Amy hoisted herself out of bed and got up to answer the door.  
  
"Hey Medda." She answered sleepily, motioning for Medda to come in. Medda looked at her.  
  
"Honey, you look like you haven't slept in years!" She exclaimed.  
  
"Just a day." Amy joked, forcing a light smile. "I just couldn't stop thinking." She stopped to yawn. ".About all this, you know?"  
  
"I imagine you have a lot on your mind. Anyway, I just came to tell you that if you want, you can have today off. I guess I'm so used to getting up at the crack of dawn that I assumed you were too! I'm sorry. Now try and get some sleep, okay?" Medda hugged Amy and let herself out.  
  
When 2:00 in the afternoon rolled around, Amy found herself sitting in a chair, blankly staring at the wall, trying desperately to stop thinking so she could rest. She had absolutely no energy left after the events of the last 36 hours. She turned her head to the sound of a soft rapping at her door. Sighing, Amy once again got up to answer the door. She opened the door to reveal an anxious-looking Jack Kelly. He let out a sigh as soon as she opened the door.  
  
Amy instantly remembered that she was supposed to have been at Tibby's for lunch with them. "Hi, Jack." She started. "I'm so sorry.god I totally forgot.oh, come in." She mumbled, hardly able to keep her eyes open.  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked her. "Ya didn't show up taday an I jus' wanted'a make sure you was okay."  
  
"Yeah, I'll be alright. I just didn't get any sleep last night, I've kinda been zoning out the whole day. God, I can't believe I forgot. I'm so sorry." She said apologetically. He touched her arm and looked deeply into Amy's eyes. "No, it's awlright, I was jis' worried about'cha, dat's all."  
  
"Well, thank you for being concerned." Amy replied quietly. "Are you still selling papers?"  
  
"No, actually I jis' sold me last one about ten minutes ago. Now I'm on my way ta the lodgin' house for some poker."  
  
Amy smiled. "Can I come?"  
  
"Sure, ya ready?" Jack asked, knowing full well that Amy was more than ready to go with him. She looked wonderful whether she thought she was ready or not. Her thick, red hair flowed over her shoulders, curling under a little at the ends; her deep blue eyes accented by shimmering makeup; she was wearing clothes from her time, he guessed, as she was wearing khaki- colored pants that flared out at the bottom and a white shirt underneath another collared one.  
  
"Um.yah." Amy smiled, taking Jack's arm and parading out her apartment door with renewed energy. They chatted pleasantly the whole trip there, and Jack couldn't help but notice how she put an extra bounce in his step; the way she was right there in front of him but not really; there was something locked deep within her soul and he wanted the key-he wanted to be let in- into her deepest thoughts, her deepest desires; the key to her spirit.  
  
When they approached the lodging house, Amy smiled as she saw a couple of younger newsies play fighting with wooden swords. "So Amy, dat's Les an' Tumbler." Jack commented as they walked by the two boys.  
  
Jack and Amy walked up the stairs and into the bunkroom, as Amy so assumed. Her attention was immediately drawn to a circle of newsboys, all hunched around a group on the floor, playing what Amy guessed was poker. Jack cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of every boy in the room. "Fellas," He started, "Dis is Amy, ya know, Medda's new performer. She came ta see some real poker playin'."  
  
Amy smiled. "Hi."  
  
"Heya, Amy!" One of the players turned around to greet her. "We'se saw ya last night an' t'ought ya was great."  
  
"Thank you.uh."  
  
"Race." Jack finished for her. "Dat's Race."  
  
"Yeah, thank you Race!" "Anytime, sweethawt." He replied, turning his attention back to the poker game. Jack touched Amy's arm and signaled for her to follow him around the group of newsies. They sat down on a bunk near the group and, an hour later, found themselves deeply engrossed in conversation. Jack noticed Amy's head sleepily nodding a little as she spoke, so he decided to walk her back to her apartment so she could get to bed.  
  
"Amy, how about I walk ya home now, you're lookin' pretty tired." He said out loud, touching her arm to get her attention.  
  
Amy felt her arm tingle at Jacks' touch, brushing it off as sleepiness. "Yeah." Amy replied quietly, knowing it was probably the best thing, but she didn't want to leave the lodging house; she didn't want to leave Jack.  
  
Jack nodded and stood up, offering Amy his arm. They stepped out onto the warm cobblestone streets and headed for Irving Hall. About halfway there, Jack noticed Amy leaning more and more on his body, practically sleeping as she walked. He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. She was trying to keep her eyes open long enough to meet his caring gaze, but hardly succeeded. In one smooth motion, Jack took her into his arms and began carrying her back to her apartment.  
  
Finally, in Jack's arms, her eyes slid closed for the first time in days, and she smiled as she drifted off to sleep. 


	6. The Power of Dreams

Amy jerked awake as the train halted to a complete stop. She looked around her. Had this all been a dream? She was so sure it had been real.  
  
Shaking her head and smiling as the dream was still a ghost in her mind, she picked up her bags and started for the train's exit.  
  
Her feet stepped out onto the cobblestone street and she looked around her, ready to start a new life. 


End file.
